A new method for array extension based on minimum redundancy linear array

A new array extension method based on non-uniform linear array is proposed to overcome the low hydrophone utilization rate problem and accumulated noise error existing in the most passive synthetic aperture methods based on uniform linear array. Firstly, successive measurements of a virtual uniform linear array are constructed by applying forth-order cumulant to measurements of minimum redundancy linear array. Then, the array is extended by compensating phase differences from an overlap-correlator. The proposed method not only inherits the advantages of the passive synthetic aperture method, but also reduces computation burden. Simulation results show that this method can provide larger aperture with fewer hydrophones through less iterations and effectively suppress Gaussian noise.